What it takes
by hellbound-celestial
Summary: What if you lost the one thing that finally made you complete? Just how far would you go to get it back? Remus's werewolfism causes a problem. He's offered a solution, but what's the cost. RLOC
1. Graduation

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. If I did I obviously wouldn't be writing under FAN fiction.

From the Journals of Remus J. Lupin

__

She is so beautiful. I see her now as she lies in bed lost in slumber. Her hair fans out around her face, enticing me to stroke her silken tresses. She looks so peaceful, so fragile. Her trust means everything to me, as does her love. Without these I would not sit where I am now. While I do not sleep I could not be more serene. I am content to simply sit here watching her as she sleeps. Her contours are perfect, her skin unmarred, and to me it is a privilege, no an honor to behold her. If I died tomorrow I would die a happy man, knowing that I could call something as inexplicable and miraculous as her mine.

Remus Lupin sat in his cold room, the fire long having died out. At first he had not noticed the chill, for they had needed no fire to warm them, but now he felt the cold seep into his bones. Yet he remained there, watching her chest rising and falling gently. She wriggled a little, and a single lock of hair drifted over her face. It fluttered softly as she breathed in and out, the ends brushing lightly against her satin skin.

He padded over the cold stone floor, resisting the urge to run and escape the chill. He sat down carefully on the edge of the bed, fearing to disturb her sleep. Tracing his fingers over her delicate cheekbone, he swept the stray lock out of her face. Leaning over, he kissed her gently on the forehead with an almost reverent tenderness.

She smiled in her sleep and squirmed closer to his warmth. In the dark of the room her face was in shadow, obscuring her delicate features. Her eyes were shut, concealing stormy sea-green eyes. She was beautiful indeed his Cincenesa. Cine they called her, Original Cine. Original Sin. Sin she was. For all her beauty and apparent fragility, she had spirit, spirit and shadow. Remus feared for her sometimes, and sometimes he found that he feared for himself. Despite her apparent compassionate nature, there was a darkness that lurked in her. Darkness accompanied with a casual disregard of anything she did not agree with. Her housemates had only been a bad influence.

Thinking about the past nights events, Remus could only sigh in relief. After seven long years they had finally graduated. It had been seven years of hardship and prejudice, but also of fun and laughter. He was sorry that their time had come to an end, but in a way he was glad that he was leaving. One thing that he was infinitely glad about was that his Cine would no longer be with the Slytherins. She could easily take care of herself, but they had sensed the kindred darkness in her from the start and only encouraged it. Remus and Cine had only been "together" for the past year and a half, but he had realized what the Slytherins did to the shadow early on. It was all over now. He smiled at one of his favorite daydreams. He and Cine were free to go see the world. To see marvels of both muggle and wizard.

He crawled back into bed and snaked his arm protectively around her. Unknowingly she sighed contentedly. It was several hours still till dawn, but Remus was sure that there were still several rowdy parties going on. Cine and he had briefly appeared at one or two, but had soon slipped away to enjoy each other's company more privately. Neither of them had regretted it in the slightest. Remus closed his eyes, not caring if he dreamed or not. To him no dream could possibly be better than life was now.

A/N: Sorry if this is a too fluffy right now. All the good stuff (action, angst, tears, torment) ;-) will come later. Hang in there, it's only the first chapter.


	2. Plans

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. If I did I obviously wouldn't be writing under FAN fiction.

From the Journals of Remus J. Lupin

_School is forever over for us now. I still find myself awakening at dawn, just like I did at Hogwarts. It has only been a week, but already it feels like another lifetime. In a way it is. The choices are now our own, but we must also make our own way in this world, without the assistance of the teachers that we previously had. There are jobs to be found, families to be started, and lives to be continued. I feel a slight twinge of guilt at this, for I know Cine would have a much easier time with two of the above were she not with me. Still, she assures me that there is no place she would rather be than with me. Already she has turned down several offers, as they would require us to be separated. As for me, who would want a werewolf working for them? _

_         Professor Dumbledore wishes to speak to me soon. About what I have no clue. It may be about a job, as he is the only man I know who would not mind employing me, even with the beast. If so, I will not know what to say. I know that any job he offers will require me to leave Cine, as he has never really trusted her. In this case, I must refuse. How could I not when she has done the same for me many times over?_

He sneezed and awoke, finding his nose tickled by chocolate brown hair. He sat up and the bed creaked. The Leaky Cauldron was a good inn, but old. He stared down at the woman lying next to him just as he had every day for the past year. It had become a ritual, and there was no sight he would rather awake to than her.

She awoke, blinking sleepily a few times. Her eyes were almond shaped and slightly slanted hinting at Asian heritage. Right now they were still slightly bleary.

Hair swished as she shook her head, trying to clear away the last traces of sleep. She sat up slowly, elegantly, and stretched luxuriously. The morning sun glinted off her hair, making russet fox-red highlights burn like fire. She turned to regard him as one side of her mouth rose into a crooked grin.

"Enjoying the show?" she enquired.

"Always." Remus replied slightly breathlessly.

"Well then," replied Cine with another grin, "I guess I have a good reason to continue putting it on."

"So what did Professor Dumbledore want last night then?" They were sitting in a cozy booth downstairs, both enjoying breakfast.

"I don't quite know." He replied with a frown. "He hinted at wanting me to join some new order of his. He mentioned the word resistance quite often." Cine smiled in slightly scornful amusement.

"That old crackpot is too paranoid. Probably some resistance union against that new wizard who's become so popular of late. What's his name anyway? Voldemort isn't it? I saw him in person once when I was with my father. Apparently he values purebloods very highly. He gave us some fanatical speech about preserving our bloodlines, but I didn't really listen. Sure he was kind of dark, not to mention more than slightly disturbing, but this'll die down. Things like this always do. Dumbledore is just afraid that he's not adored public figure number one anymore." She gave a small snort of derision.

"Don't call him an old crackpot." Remus told her wearily. This was their one sore spot, and it was really too early in the morning for this tired old argument. "Just because you got caught a couple of times does not make him an old crackpot. Just because you disagree with someone on certain issues does not automatically make them stupid or senile."

"But it really wasn't fair!" she pouted angrily. "It was only because I was a Slytherin. He was prejudiced against the whole bunch of us, especially Lucius. If it had been one of his precious Griffindors fooling around they wouldn't even have been given a warning. He would have smiled and patted them on the head." Remus sighed, at the same time feeling the familiar feeling of dread that arose when anyone brought up the topic of her ex-boyfriend Lucius around him.

"Please Cine?" he sighed once again. 

She sniffed delicately. "Whatever." 

They spent two more days in Diagon Alley. It was glorious to have no classes, no responsibilities and no homework. They wondered up and down the alley for hours, admiring the merchandise and the many curiosities on display in the shop windows. It was enough to simply enjoy each other's company.

He entered their room one night to find Cine sprawled out on the floor, with what seemed like hundreds of maps around her. 

"What are you doing?" he asked in astonishment.

"Planning." She replied shortly. His jaw dropped and for a second he had the unpleasant feeling that he closely resembled a goldfish. He shut his mouth.

"What for?"

"Isn't it obvious?" It was her turn to be surprised. "I'm bored here. Aren't you? We're young and free with a decent amount of money in our pockets. We always said we wanted to see the world together. I decided that we could go backpacking around Europe for a while, sort of a graduation reward for us both. If that's fun then we can always do Asia or America after that."

"What's backpacking?" He was very much intrigued. It had indeed been a long-time dream of theirs, but Remus had never actually thought that it would become more than a dream."

"Backpacking is a muggle thing." She said with a smile. "I forget sometimes that not all wizards know many muggle ways. Then again, not all wizards have overly curious, overly practical fathers like mine. Always looking for new things to exploit and new ways to make money. Yep, that's my old man." For a second Remus thought he detected a hint of bitterness in a voice. "Anyway," she continued, "backpacking is cheap muggle travel. If young couples such as us wish to see the world but do not have the sufficient cash, they go backpacking. Basically, you take the cheapest modes of travel possible, sleep in small cheapish places, eat cheap meals, and everything is strictly self-service. You carry almost everything you need in an oversized backpack. It's a no luxury holiday, but you get to see places that you would never otherwise."

"That sounds interesting," he replied slowly, "but kind of demanding." 

"What are you, soft?" Cine grinned playfully, taking the sting out of her words. "You've always complained that the Slytherins, especially the pureblood Slytherins were much too pampered and spoilt. **You** always said that they couldn't manage a day on their own out in the real world. Here's you chance to prove that you can. Besides, we'll always have our wands and a little magic to help us out here and there." She stopped and took a quick breath. "Please?" she pleaded, looking at him. "Pretty pleeeeease with a cherry, whipped cream and sprinkles on top?" She pouted and made big puppy-dog eyes at him. Remus laughed at the sudden onslaught.

"What can I say?" he chuckled. "Ok, ok we'll go." She gave him a brilliant smile.

"In that case we leave tomorrow by ferry. We're going to France first."

A/N: Still fluffy, just wait.


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